Furnace



June 7, 1932. A, l GALUSHA l 1,862,477

FURNACE 'Filed June 24, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l In mi mmtcvz ALBERT L. GHLUSHH Mmm/ June 7, 1932. A. 1 GALUsHA FURNACE Filed June 24, 192e 2 Sheets-Shea?l 2 Patented June '7, 1932 UNITED STATES ,PATENT OFFICE FURNACE Application filed June 24, 1926. Serial No. 118,243.

My invention relates to furnaces, and particularly to furnaces for domestic heating installations, although its utility is by no means limited to this field. Among the objects of my invention may be particularly mentioned (a) to provide a movable grate furnace, preferably adapted to the combustion of small size coal and having automatically effective means for intermittently moving the grate; (b) an automatic fuel feed and ash discharge incident to the movement of the grate; (0) l means for automatically maintaining the fuel bed substantially level and of proper depth for eflicient combustion; (d) means for automatically regulating the depth of the ash to maintain the ash bcd of appropriate depth, not .only to protect the grate and prevent waste of fuel and heat to the ash pit, butalso to insure proper draft to the fire; (e) a combined fuel distributor and ash remover which serves also as the conduit for a hot-water supply system for the house; improved grate construction; (g) improved grate operation; (It) improved fuel feed to the rate; (2') improved ash pit and ash removal ayout by which labor is saved and dust prevented; correlated'means for moving the grate to insure best conditions of the lire for heat production when house temperature is subnormal; various features of improvements in construction of the furnace parts and inthe organization of the furnace as a i whole both with respect to structure and operation, as hereinafter described, or as shown in thel accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a broken side' `elevation of a furnace in which my invention is embodied in one form certain parts being omitted',

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2, Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section through a grate and fuel bed looking toward the lateral fuel port, the section being that indicated by the line 3-3 in Figures 1 and 2. The character of the furnace, whether hot air, Water, or steam, is immaterial with respect to the features to which my invention relates. For the purpose of explanation I have indicated diagrammatically a boiler furnace 15, the lower portion of which jackets on the top flangelS of which rests the outer margin of the rotary grate 19. Fast with the hub 20 of the latter is a vertical shaft 21 which is journalled in upper and lower lbearing bosses 22, 23, carried by cross bars or spiders v24:, 25 integral with or secured to the pedestal.

Preferably the upperfbearing boss`22`underlies the hub 20 of the grate, and thus supports the latter inits central area. l.

Fast on the grate shaft 21 is a spider driving wheel 26 of gear, ratchet or other type, the hub 27 of which preferably rests for support on the bearing boss 23. For the sake of illustration I have shown the driving wheel provided with teeth 28 which mesh with the teeth of a pinion or worm 29 on the driven shaft 30. The latter may be driven by any suitable means, for example by an electric motor 31, or, if preferred, by a piston, to the cylinder of which steam is admitted from the boiler 15 through a valve-controlled pipe. Whatever the type of motor, the supply of power thereto is automatically controlled, as hereinafter mentioned.

'Ihe end of the driven shaft 30 is preferably squared to receive a hand crank (not shown) for manual operation in emergency.

The pedestal is also provided with a draft opening 32, the door, 33 of which is controllable both manually and automaticallymFor the automatic control I prefer the hinged door construction shown, which may be lifted by a pull wire 34 connected to the core 35 of the solenoid 36, the circuit of which is closed by a thermostat (not shown) at some desired location within the premises served by the heater.

Below the pedestal 17, which is supported upon the floor 37 is an ash pit 38 of suflicient size not only to accommodate one or more ash receptacles 39, but also toy permit free lateral withdrawal into the space 4() to one side of the area occupied by the furnace. A hook 41 secured to the ceiling beam 42 above the space 40 affords means for the detachable support of a hoisting rig of any desired character for lifting the ash receptacles out of the pit area 40.

In order to keep the gear 28 clear of ash, a deflector 43 is arranged within the pedestal above the gear ring to guide the ash into the spider area thereof through which it may fall into the ash receptacle in the pit. Where several barrels are used to receive the ash, a spreader 44 may be used to prevent the ash from falling into the central space between the adjacent barrels.

The fuel for the fire chamber is contained in a hopper 45 with inclined bottom 46, the angle of which is suiicient to insure the automatic feed of the fuel to the fire box by gravity. At its lower end the hopper opens to a lateral feed port 47 above the grate.

,The opening of the port may be regulated by a vertically slidable and adjustable feed gate 48. Inasmuch as different sizes of coal require different depths of fuel bed for proper combustion, the regulation of the port opening 47 is of considerable practical importance.

Within the fire box I provide a fuel distributor and leveller 49 and an ash remover or plow 50. Preferably these elements are constituted by upper and lower L sections of pipe, the short legs of which are united by coupling 51 toward the center of the fire bed, while their outer ends are connected to the Water jacket of the boiler, or, as indicated and preferred, are passed through the latter to an independent boiler (not shown) in the house water-supply system. A central support for the leveller and plow arms 49 and 50 respectively, may be provided by a branch 52 from the plow section 50, the branch being shaped to engage an upstanding extension 53 of the grate shaft 21. The plow branch 52 also serves to throw ash out from the central area of the grate and thus effect a scavenge of the entire area on rotation of the grate.

It will be noted that both pipes 49 and 50 are arranged on chords of the circle defined by the rotary grate, and thus lie at an angle to the direction of travel of the coal and ash as the grate revolves. The distributor arm 49 intersects the path of the coal beyond the fuel port. With respect to this direction of travel, the leading end of the fuel distributor arm 49 is peripheral, and its following end central, `while the leading end of the ash plow 50 is central and its following' end peripheral. The outer end of the leveller 49 is arranged adjacent the side of the feed port 47 toward which the fuel is carried by the drag of the rotating grate. In other words, this outer end is beyond the feed port. Consequently, the fuel entering through the feed port and forced by the grate against the distributor, is deflected and caused by the latter to slide inwardly toward the center of the grate.

The action of the distributor arm or leveller 49 in directing the fuel inwardly is due to the fact that it extends, from a point remote from the grate center and beyond the fuel port in the direction of grate rotation, inwardly in a direction that has a substantial component in the direction in which the grate rotates. By this is meant that the arm diverges from a truly radial line inward from its outer end and this divergence is in the direction of grate rotation. The action of the ash plow arm 50 in directing the ash outwardly is due to its opposite arrangement by which it extends, from a point beyond the ash discharge port in the direction of rotation, inwardly in a direction having a lsubstantial component counter to the direction of grate rotation.

Similarly, the plow section 50 enters the wall of the fire box beyond the ash port, being at that .side of the ash discharge port 54 which is last passed by the grate during its travel. The ash carried around by the grate and brought into engagement thereby with the inclined face of the plow 50 is caused by the latter to slide outward toward the discharge port 54.

To increase the effectiveness of the leveller and plow respectively, the faces thereof which engage the fuel and ash respectively, are preferably flat and substantially vertically arranged. For this purpose the pipes may be of rectangular cross section as shown.

It will be noted that the plow section 50 is located4 slightly Vabove the grate surface and thus insures the maintenance of at least a thin layer of ash thereon. This is desirable not only for the protection of the grate against heat injury, but also to secure a more even dissemination of the draft, and to prevent the fall of fresh fuel through the grate. While clinkers and larger masses of ash are sliced off by the plow toward and into the ash discharge port 54, it will be understood that finer ash particles drop through the grate openings at all points, especially when the grate is in motion. It is also pointed out that the lower face of the ash plow is slightly inclined with respect to the grate, itsl leading edge, the one which first engages the ash, being nearer the grate to prevent grinding of clinlrers into the grate holes.

I prefer to arrange the fuel feed port 47 and the clinker discharge port 54 substantially opposite each other on the same diameter. When this is the case it will be noted that the fuel distributor 49 lies wholly to one side of the diameter passing through the port ccnl ters, While the ash remover or plow 50 crosses that diameter-both locations serving to obtain the slicing action on the fuel and ash respectively, which is desired for the most efficient action of these elements.

v ploy a thermostat 55 located beneath the grate. Inasmuch as this element may be of `any suitable character, I have not illustrated it in detail. It sufiices to state that at the opposite ends of a predetermined temperature range, the thermostat serves to start or stop the mechanism which rotates the grate. For this purpose when the grate is rotated by means of an electric motor, or electrically controlled mechanism, the thermostat makes or breaks the motor or `control circuit 56. Thus, if the temperature beneath the grate falls too low (by reason of too thick an ash bed), the thermostat closes the circuit and the motor revolves the grate with consequent removal of ash by the plow and coincident feed of fuel to the fuel bed. By reasonA of the ash removal, the hot coals of the fire bed approach the grate and cause a rise in temperature below the latter, which in turn operates the thermostat to open the circuit, thus halting the travel of the grate until the combustion of the fuel and increased depth of the ash bed again reduces the temperature below the grate sufficiently to cause the thermostat to again close the circuit. rlhe rotation of the grate, feed of fuel and removal of ash is thus intermittent, and is automatically controlled by the thermostat incident to varying temperature below the grate.

llt will be understood of course that this operation is entirely independent of the house temperature, and that the house thermostat, which ll preferably employ for maintaining the house temperature equable, is entirely independent and responds solely to 'the temperature conditions at the location in which it is placed within the premises. It maybe pointed out, however, that when the house thermostat operates by reason of too low house temperature, the consequent opening of the draft door 33 admits air beneath the grate and tends to chill the thermostat 55, with resulting operation of the grate driving motor, the cleaning out of ash, and the refuelling of the grate, so that the condition of the I'ire for energetic heat production is automatically established when most needed.

ln order to start the fire the fire box is provided with a suitable door opening 57, through-which kindling, etc., may be laid and ignited on the grate. After the fire is under way, however, the subsequent operation of the furnace is normally fully automatic and may continue for a day, a week or a month, depending upon the size of the fuel hopper and of the ash receptacles.

The operation of the furnace is readily understood from the foregoing. It suflices to point out the intermittent rotation of the grate, governed by the thermostat below the latter, and the automatic feed of fuel and removal of ash to maintain the fire bed in the l best condition for combustion of the fuel.

Among the advantages of the construction mention may be made of the fact that the hopper may be made large enough to hold a suflicient quantity of fuel to feed the furnace several days or several weeks, as may be; the automatic feed of fuel to, and -removal of ash from the grate, obviates the necessity for manual attention for firing; the fuel may be of small size and therefore low priced in the market; the regulation of the depth of the lire bed to suit the type of fuel burned may be accomplished by adjusting the thermostat to various degrees of sensitivity to heat; the `ire bed is maintained at substantially constant depth within the predetermined rangeand may be quite thin for buckwheat coal, thus obviating the necessity for a blower to obtain the necessary draft, although a blower may be provided and automatically controlled by the house thermostat if desired; the house water supply is heated by the combined fuel leveller and ash remover, and the latter is at the same time water cooled and preserved against heat injury; even soft coal may be used without objectionable smoke or soot; the grate and its accessories may be installed in standard furnaces withoutJ difficulty; there is no danger of burning out the grate; the ash pit construction with automatic deposit of ashes in the cans having a capacity sufficient to take care of ashes for a week or several weeks; and the provision of hoisting means for their removal from the pit, simplifies the ash problem the power required for occasional rotation of the grate is negligible and adds very little to the operating expense. Various other advantages might be specified-many of which are applicable to movable grates of other types than the rotating grate shown by way of example.

It will be understood that the construction illustrated is merely illustrative of the general layout and operation to which my invention relates, and may bemodified in many details without departing from what l claim as my invention.

I claiml. ln a furnace, a rotary grate, lateral fuel feed and ash dischargeports above the grate, and a combined fuel distributor and ash plow having sections at different levels above the grate and respectively associated withsaid ports to direct fuel inwardly toward and ash outwardly from the central area of the grate during the rotation of the latter.

-2. In a furnace, a rotary grate, lateral fuel feed and ash discharge ports above the grate, and a combined fuel distributor and ash plow having sections at different levels above the grate and respectively associated with said ports to direct fuel inwardly toward and ash outwardly from the central area of the grate during the rotation of the latter, said sections l fia having a flow passage therethrough for liquid.

3. In a furnace, a rotary gra-te, a vertical shaft below the grate for rotating the same, a-spider wheel fast on the shaft for driving the latter, said spider wheel having a peripheral driving rim, driving means for said wheel engaging said rim, and means for directing ash fromv said rim and through said wheel within its spider area.

4. In a furnace, a rotary grate, fuel feed and ash discharge ports, and a stationary pipe extending through the furnace wall and across the irebed, said pipe having a portion extending 'from a point beyond the fuel port in the direction of grate rotation and spaced above the grate to serve as a fuel distributor,

side of the grate and beyond said ash port in the direction of grate rotation to deflect ash toward said ash port and mea-ns for supporting said arms at said central area.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBERT LEET GALUSHA.

and another portion close to the grate and adn jacent the ash discharge port to serve as a plow directing ash to said ash port, and means for connecting said pipe in a liquid flow line.

5. In 'a furnace, a grate and an ash plow adapted for relative movement, said plow bein formed as an arm extending transversely of the grate and having an inclined face presented to said grate, the leading edge of said face being nearer to said grate.

6. oIn a furnace, a rotary grate, an ash discharge port at the side of said grate, means for directing the ash to said discharge port,

^ a vertical shaft below the grate for rotating fthe same, a spider wheel fast on the shaft for driving the latter, and means 'for directing ash from the discharge port and grate through said wheel within its spider area.

7. In a furnace, a rotary grate, a lateral fuel feed port and a stationary fuel distributor arm spaced from the grate and extending across the grate on the far side of said fuel port in the direction of grate rotation from the outside of said grate to a point near the center of said grate and spaced therefrom and so located as to intersect the path of the coal and deflect the coal toward the central part of the fuel bed and level the same.

8. In a furnace, a grate and an ash plow adapted for relative movement, said plow being formed as an arm polygonal in cross section extending transversely of the grate and presenting one face tothe grate, said face being inclined to said grate and the edge of said face which rst engages the ash being the part of the ash plow nearest the grate.

9. In a furnace, a rotary grate, lateral fuel feed and ash discharge ports, an arm extend- .ingpartially across the grate in a direction having a substantial component in the direction of grate rotation from a point outsidev of the grate and beyond the fuel port in the direction of grate rotation to deiect fuel toward the central area of the grate and distribute it, a second arm nearer the grate and extending across it from a point below the inner end of said rst arm to a point out- CERTIFICATE CF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,862,477. June 7, 1932.

C ALBERT Lat GALUSHA.

lt is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, line 88, vafter "by" insert the words flowing through; and that lthe said Letters-Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed'this 12th day of July, A. D. 1932.

M. J. Moore, (Seal) l Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

